Certain aspects of regulation of attorneys' behavior in social networks

Abstract

Introduction. Some aspects of a lawyer's behavior on social networks are regulated by the Rules of Attorney Ethics. However, these provisions have been criticized by lawyers since their adoption. Therefore, an analysis of the norms of those Rules is appropriate to address issues related to their application in practice. The purpose of this paper is to Analyze the provisions of the Rules of Advocate Ethics in terms of regulating the behavior of a lawyer on social networks. Investigate the practice of applying such provisions as well as the possibility of further improving legal regulation in this area. Results. The paper deals with the issues of regulation of lawyers' behavior in social networks, analyzes the norms of the Rules of Attorney ethics, examines potential negative consequences of application current version of those norms for both individual lawyers and for the whole institute of advocacy. Furthermore, it contains certain suggestions of how to improve legal regulation of this area. Emphasis on the existence of the unspecified concept of “lawyer's authority”. It is determined, that the interpretation of those concept is left to the discretion of the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of the Advocacy. But such a wide competence may lead to committing some abuses by this authority. The problem of formation of additional duties of lawyers than those provided by the Rules of attorney ethics is revealed. The legitimacy of such responsibilities has been proven. The paper examines potential negative consequences of application current version of those norms for both individual lawyers and for the whole institute of advocacy. Namely, due to the lack of a clear possibility to identify the person leaving the record on the social network, it is considered to be difficult and sometimes impossible to prove the guilt of a particular lawyer. Furthermore, the paper contains certain suggestions of how to improve legal regulation of this area. In particular, the position of scholars on the impossibility of applying, according to lawyers on social networks, such disciplinary sanctions as suspension or termination of the right to practice law was supported. Authors consider it expedient to include information in the Unified Register of Lawyers of Ukraine to confirm the profile of a lawyer on a social network. Conclusion. The necessity of developing a system of methodical recommendations for solving cases of this category is stated. It is proposed to develop methodological recommendations by analyzing the accounts of users of various social networks and summarizing the information obtained with the possible involvement of specialists in the field of IT-technologies.